Old Angel Station - an eyesore that should be brought to life (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Old Angel Station - an eyesore that should be brought to life

August 19, 2009 2:29 PM

Islington campaigners at the old Angel station entrance

The Lib Dem team want the old Angel station brought back to life

Liberal Democrat councillors and local campaigners are calling on Transport for London and Mayor Boris Johnson to bring the old Angel tube station at the corner of Torrens Street and City Road back to life.

Parts of the original station built in 1901 still exist, but the building is boarded up with hoardings and has become a target for fly-posting and graffiti. The old station is currently being used by TfL for storage.

Local Lib Dem councillor Jyoti Vaja took the eyesore up with Transport for London, but they refused to clean up the building until Islington Council stepped in. The local council intervened and served TfL with a formal warning in April requiring them to clean up the graffiti and repaint the hoardings.

Transport for London have now complied with the order. Local campaigners were celebrating their success at getting the eyesore cleaned up - for now. But the only way of making this building stay presentable is to bring it back into use.

Transport campaigner Bridget Fox says "It's good news that the old station building has been cleaned up for now. But it's a real disgrace that Transport for London has been allowing it to go to wrack and ruin like this. From residents' point of view, it's just a waste of space. TfL could look at bringing it back into use to improve access to this busy station."

Local resident Vamsi Velagapudi adds ""I want to thank Islington Council on behalf of local people for forcing TfL to clean up the eyesore hoardings at the station. If TfL don't need it any more, then there are a thousand uses the building could be put to - there's a fantastic arts centre next door and it's right in a major shopping area. I think that we could find some way of restoring the station's historic character, making this an asset for local people not an eyesore."